Example embodiments of the inventive concepts relate to semiconductor devices and methods of fabricating the same, and in particular, to three-dimensional semiconductor memory devices with three-dimensionally arranged memory cells and methods of fabricating the same.
The continued development of highly integrated semiconductor devices is spurred in part by consumer demand for low-cost, superior performance products. Indeed, particularly in the case of semiconductor devices, increased device integration is a major factor in achieving price points satisfying market demands. Conventionally, semiconductor memory devices include planar or two-dimensional (2D) memory cell arrays, i.e., memory cell arrays having memory cells laid-out in a two-dimensional plane. Further integration of such devices is becoming more difficult (and costly) as patterning technologies approach practical limits. At the very least, prohibitively expensive process equipment would be needed to achieve major advances in 2D memory cell array device integration.
As a result, three-dimensional (3D) semiconductor memory devices have been proposed in which the memory cells of the memory cell array are arranged in three dimensions.